‘Hinduphobia’: Bengal BJP chief says he & others held over Ganga Aarti

Bengal BJP chief Dr. Sukanta Majumdar on Tuesday sharpened his attack on the Mamata Banerjee government and the state police as he said that he and his other party colleagues were held for performing the Ganga Aarti. In a series of tweets, he targeted the Chief Minister as he claimed that the state police “first didn’t give permission for Ganga Aarti at Babu Ghat”. “When we performed the Aarti at nearby other ghat, they arrested me along with our MLA, district presidents and other karyakartas while returning,” he wrote along with visuals from the site,

“Performing Ganga Aarti is also crime now as per the Trinamool government,” he further said, accusing the ruling government of “deep rooted Hinduphobia“.

“TMC govt can file fake cases against me on raising the issue of attacks on Vande Bharat Train. They can arrest me on performing Ganga Aarti. But they can’t stop me. We will keep worshipping Maa Ganga,” he wrote in a post, slamming the ruling Trinamool. “The administration has neither taken measures to begin the Aarti nor is it allowing us to do so.”

Tagging Mamata Banerjee, he referred to the Chief Minister attending the Ganga Aarti last year in Varanasi, which also happens to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency. “The state administration had made necessary arrangements for her visit at Dashashwamedh Ghat wherein she participated in the Aarti. Neither has she learnt courtesy etiquettes, nor the art of being cordial.(sic)” he wrote.

The BJP and the Trinamool have been at loggerheads over various issues in Bengal.